With over 30 athletes contributing to the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn girls track and field program this season, there are plenty of opportunities for them to compete. “Our program is built off competition and by having such large numbers it has created a great competitive edge that is brought to our program with new girls every day,” noted HMS head coach Jeremiah Delzer. “Sometimes always going against the same partners or matchups can get old. Also, it helps us not have to stretch certain kids by having to put them in relays or events. We have the luxury of having a large pool so we can be tactful in our choices at each meet about what we want to put out as our strongest without having to sacrifice a big drop off in a different event. Our strong numbers hopefully will be our biggest strength!” He smiled when adding, “The only challenge is trying to figure out how to get everyone in enough events!”
The coach also commented, “Having out as many girls as we do has been a huge advantage for us in athletics and overall I think that it will help us not only in track but overall in our athletics as well. We have tried to do a lot of things to develop our athleticism overall for HMS. I have seen even in just the short time of this season how much better our girls have gotten at different skills like agility, running, jumping, etc.
Delzer is new at the helm of the girls program and is being assisted by Julia Storm. “I think that we have had a great transition this year with our track program,” offered Delzer. (New boys) Coach Ebel and I have brought in a new philosophy of how we are going to go about things and train and I think the kids have bought in well. I appreciate the coaches in helping out and helping create buy-in for the kids.”
The new girls head coach has been encouraged by the results in the early going. “I think we are in a really good spot so far,” said Delzer. “We are under the philosophy that if you want to run fast, you have to run fast! Lots of our girls and guys have been hitting PR’s (personal records) throughout the year so it has been good to see the growth and setting of new bests.”
The coaches have been working toward putting together a meet lineup. “We are starting to get down to who we want in our meet entry,” said the head coach. “With our strong numbers figuring out our best combinations and relays are interesting but it will be great to see who of our girls will get out and COMPETE! That will hopefully bring some clarity in the next few weeks. I think that the strength of our team will be in our middle to short sprints and middle to short relays (4×100 through Distance Medley.) We have a good group of returning girls who were strong last year like Kamryn Ebel, Payton Diehm and Pam Mutombo who will be complemented by some newcomers and some freshmen like Lindsey Van Es, Eva Stammer, Keely Ebel, Laura Vargas and Kate Gellerman. I am excited to see how that group of girls can get together and compete!”
Delzer acknowledged that the regular season schedule serves as preparation for the conference and state qualifying meets at the end of the season. “Our goal with the regular season is to figure out who is our strongest combinations and runners that we can get firing once it comes post season qualifier time,” he stated. “We have stressed that we treat our meets as a workout and strive to see progress on a week-by-week basis.”
According to the the new coach, HMS girls track and field is about more than producing conference champions and state qualifiers. “I think our overall goals as a program is to develop what it means to be a competitor and build up confidence and work ethic through the lessons that we do throughout the week,” remarked Delzer. “We also want to be great students and people around our school and community. We have emphasized that our work and season’s goal is to boost the overall athleticism for HMS athletics. We will have successes this year that are a result of our hard work, but that really is just an icing on the cake for the work that we have put in!”
For the athletes who buy in to the program there is ultimately a take away. “The main goal that I want kids to walk away with from our track is understanding the markers for what it takes to be successful not only as a track athlete but a competitor in any sport and life,” revealed Delzer. “We work hard with our kids to teach lessons about what it takes to be successful and how to make those decisions to set us up for success in all aspects of life. I hope that through our program they can learn those skills and grow in their athleticism that will make them successful in our program and in their future sports or activities or anything else they might do.”

HMS Track Schedule

Boys Coaches: Korey Ebel and Patricia Zimmermann
Girls Coaches: Jeremiah Delzer and Julia Storm
All meets start at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Friday, April 4, coed, Western Christian Meet, at Hull (Hesla Field)
Tuesday, April 8, coed, Dutch Relays, at Orange City (Northwestern College)
Monday, April 14, coed, Unity Christian Meet, at Orange City (Northwestern College)
Thursday, April 17, coed, South O’Brien Mid-Season Meet, at Paullina
Monday, April 21, girls, Lady Orab Invitational, at Sheldon
Tuesday, April 22, boys, OABCIG Boys Track Invitational, at Ida Grove
Friday, April 25, coed, Hawk Relays, at Hartley
Monday, April 28, coed, Okoboji Pioneer Relays, at Milford
Monday, May 5, coed, War Eagle Conf. Meet, at Hawarden, 4:00
Thursday, May 8, coed, Wolverine Relays, at Paullina, 4:00
Monday, May 12, coed, Sioux Central Invitational, at Sioux Rapids